


Unexpected Consequences

by Potatoe_Knight



Series: A New Enemy [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Hawkmoth Defeat, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-06 14:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18390140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potatoe_Knight/pseuds/Potatoe_Knight
Summary: Adrien wanted to know Ladybug's Identity, not Hawkmoth's... But when did he ever get to choose in life? Or the consequences?





	1. "What's This?"

“Where were you?” Gabriel Agreste wasted no time in interrogating his son as soon as he stepped through the door.

Adrien sighed. He supposed he should have expected this when he expressly disobeyed his father’s orders to sneak out to see his friends. Especially since he missed a photo shoot to do so. It wasn’t something he would normally do, but it was entirely worth it to see the debut of the second movie Nino had ever made. It wasn’t his fault that his father was unwilling to reschedule the photo shoot and that the theater Nino had rented to debut in couldn’t reschedule. Faced with this decision, Adrien chose friends over his father.

Apparently Adrien was taking too long to answer, because his father turned around. “We will discuss this in my study.”

Of course he would be penitent enough, not having intended to aggravate his father  _ too  _ much. Upon reaching the study, the door was closed, and Nathalie waited outside. Like his own room, the one wall of windows gave the room dramatic lighting.

“Why did you leave?”   
Adrien answered instantly this time. “Father, I wanted to support my friend. I’ll make up the photoshoot--”

Gabriel turned around. “It’s not about the photoshoot.”

This took Adrien a second to process. “ _ What?” _

“It’s unsafe to go out.”

This touched Adrien. “Do you.. Are you saying that you actually care about me as your son?” he thought aloud.

“Yes…” Gabriel choked up. “Since your mother went missing… I’ve been preoccupied…” he stopped, cleared his throat, then continued in his usual even tone. “With the increasing Akuma attacks, it is very unsafe for you to leave at all. Especially without your bodyguard. There is a reason I don’t allow you to have as much freedom as friends your age might have.”

Despite the display of affection by his father, Adrien was frustrated. Years of chafing against his father’s suffocating restrictions all threatened to burst and manifested in two words.“Why not?”

“What?”

“Why can’t you allow me to take risks? If I’m willing to take the risk to go out to support my friends…”

“ _ I _ can’t take the risk.”

This failed to touch Adrien’s heart a second time. “Safety matters, but what’s the point of breathing if I can’t live?”

Gabriel was starting to turn red from anger. “The akumas are dangerous!”

“Do you doubt Ladybug and Cat Noir, too?”

This seemed to be the final straw for Adrien’s father. He pulled out his tie and the top collar of his shirt in frustration and slammed it on the desk. “You must stay in here until dinner as your punishment. That is all.”

He left his tie retreated from the room, walking at a brisk pace. Adrien only heard his brief pause to inform Nathalie of what had just happened, probably so that she would take watch.

“So, that didn’t exactly go as planned, did it?”

Adrien glanced at the black kwami. “Shut up, Plagg.”

“Hey, what’s this?” Plagg had flown over to where Gabriel’s tie was on his desk.

“It’s a tie, Plagg.”

“No, not that.  _ This _ .”

Adrien came over to see what the kwami was talking about. “The collar?”

Then Adrien saw the purple brooch peeking out of the collar from behind the tie. He was reaching out to touch it when a large, purple butterfly came flying at him.

“Aaah!” Adrien shouted, startled.

Nathalie poked her head in. “What’s the matter, Adrien?”

Both Plagg and the offending butterfly were nowhere to be seen. “Nothing. I just got startled by a giant bug I saw. I’ll be fine now.”

“A bug?” Nathalie’s face became perplexed. “I’ll have to inform your father that there are bugs getting into the house.”

That might lead to all cracks and passages being sealed, which did  _ not _ seem the best for maintaining Chat Noir’s seamless entrances and exits. “Bug? Did I say bug? I meant  _ bird. _ That flew into the window. And then away. Because it was unharmed. I was just startled by the thump. No bugs here.”

Nathalie seemed somewhat skeptical, but she didn’t challenge what he said. “I see,” was all she said before closing the door.

Adrien turned back around to the tie and saw Plagg and the butterfly- which was now apparently also a kwami. His heart skipped a beat, but this time he at least managed to refrain from crying out.

“Who,” he asked the new kwami, “are  _ you? _ ”

The purple butterfly bowed. “I am Nooroo, the butterfly miraculous. I grant my holder the ability to choose devoted champions and grant them superpowers.”

This sounded familiar to Adrien. After a second he grabbed it. “Hawk Moth?”

Nooroo bowed his head to signal Adrien was correct. He backed away, worried.

Plagg laughed, ridiculing Adrien’s reaction. “It’s the holder that’s corrupt. Not Nooroo! He wouldn’t hurt, well, a fly!”

Feeling somewhat bashful for his reaction, Adrien tried to go back to the subject. “SO, your miraculous…”

“The brooch,” Nooroo answered, Plagg still laughing hysterically in the background.

The brooch. On the collar. That his father had just taken off.

Adrien picked it up. “I suppose we should take it to Master Fu, shouldn’t we?”

The butterfly kwami bowed its head in affirmation again.

“Plagg, Claws Out.” The Cat was sucked into his ring, instantly cutting off the laughter. Cat Noir turned to Nooroo. “I’ve actually never been to Master Fu’s house. That was always Ladybug. Do you know the way?”

Nooroo bowed his head one last time.

“Then let’s stop Hawk Moth once and for all.”


	2. "Twiddling my Thumbs"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding something of his father's, Adrien has to deal with it.

After navigating through to Master Fu’s house, Adrien detransformed.

Plagg wasted no time in getting out a quip. “Still can’t give good directions with that flighty butterfly brain of yours, huh, Nooroo?”

Which was true. Nooroo couldn’t. Not to mention that it didn’t help when Cat Noir asked a yes-or-no question for clarification and was given a nonverbal response, he often overshot, adding even more time to the already lengthy commute.

Adrien sighed, and opened his mouth to berate his kwami when Master Fu opened the door.

“Adrien?” the old man said. “What are you doing here?”

He came in and Master Fu shut the door around him. It was only then, in the private presence of the Great Guardian and the two kwamis that Adrien took out the brooch.

“What is this?” Master Fu took the magical accessory.  
“Can’t you tell?” Adrien said. “It’s

Hawkmoth’s miraculous. His kwami came with us, too.”

Fu looked up. “Aahh… I was so distracted by Adrien’s arrival. I should have noticed earlier. How have you faired, Nooroo?” He bowed in respect to the kwami.

Nooroo returned the gesture. “Greetings, Master Fu. I did for the first many years. Only when I reached my most recent holder a few years ago was I compelled to work for evil.”

Fu nodded, accepting the answer. “And Duusu?”

The purple kwami turned solemn. “We have much to discuss.”

Outside, Adrien could tell the sky was starting to darken. He was allowed to be missing until dinnertime, but if he was missing past that, there would be consequences.

“Master Fu, while it would be nice to stay longer, my schedule is demanding, and I need to leave.”

Fu nodded his permission, but when Adrien got up, he held out his hand. “Wait.” The wizened man made his way to his feet and stumbled over to a drawer. “I won’t ask where you found that miraculous, but in case you need something that will temporarily replace it, take this.” He held out a brooch that was identical to it. That is, in everything besides its aura. There was a certain weight that a miraculous had unrelated to its physical properties.

Adrien nodded in appreciation as he took the miraculous, and then left, shutting the door tightly behind him.

* * *

 

“Claws Out.”

Cat Noir became Adrien, and for once, Plagg held his tongue.

He hurried over and barely managed to replace the brooch with the new one and take a step away from it with his hands conspicuously behind his back before the door swung open with his father and Nathalie on the other side.

“You were awfully quiet, according to Nathalie, Adrien. What were you doing?” Gabriel walked over to the desk and immediately replaced his collar and tie, apparently not noticing anything amiss. It took all of his willpower for Adrien not to sigh in relief.

Not having a predetermined excuse, “Just… twiddling my thumbs?” That wasn’t meant to sound like a question. He pulled his hands in front of him and demonstrated, feeling a smile that must’ve looked nervous on his face.

Nathalie creased her brow. “Nothing? For an hour and a half?”

Adrien looked down, wondering what to say. Then it came to him. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I was just playing a game on my phone.” He repeated the motion, as if swiping the screen. “Get it? Twiddling my thumbs? Playing a game? Eh?”

Nathalie just sighed and shook her head. But, despite being turned away, Adrien saw his father briefly smile. Did that mean they had the same sense of humor. This calmed him down, even letting out  a real smile.

Before he remembered.

The brooch was in his father’s collar.

Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth. Or had been. Until Adrien had taken his miraculous away.

Taking a deep breath to level his emotions, he followed his father and the secretary out of the room.

Danger averted.

Hawkmoth was finally vanquished.


	3. “Wonder What He’s Up To…”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug learns why there haven't been akumas lately...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts about a week after the previous two.

Marinette was on her balcony, feeling restless. She came out to try getting inspiration for a hat she was working on, but found that she couldn’t concentrate. She was too full of energy.

“You need to relax, Marinette.” Tikki had flown up by her, and Marinette was so lost in her own thoughts that she had noticed. “Why’re you so tense?”

Marinette shrugged. “It’s just… strange. Hawkmoth has been increasing the frequency of his akuma attacks lately, and last week he suddenly just… _stopped_.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Tikki came in closer to her holder comfortingly.

Marinette shrugged. “It just seems as though he is waiting for something. Getting ready for something big that might defeat Ladybug and Cat Noir. _That’s_ what I’m worried about.”

“Don’t worry, Marinette. You’ve got this just fine. I’m confident that you and Cat Noir will manage to defeat Hawkmoth, no matter what,” her kwami said encouragingly.

Marinette let out a little laugh. “Thanks, Tikki. You always know just how to cheer me up.” The two fell into a comfortable silence surveying the view of Paris.

Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette spotted a black shadow move swiftly across the Parisian landscape, almost like…

“...Cat Noir?” Marinette asked aloud, tilting her head in confusion. She had rarely seen him around at all except for an akuma attack. But if she used Ladybug to run her errands, she saw no reason Cat Noir couldn’t do the same.

Tikki nodded in agreement. “That looked like him.”

“Wonder what he’s up to…”

“Maybe you should go check on him,” Tikki suggested.

“As Marinette?!” she exclaimed.”He’s hardly met me like this!”

Tikki rolled her eyes. “Not as yourself, Marinette. As Ladybug. That way, you can also make sure he’s alright.”

Oh. “Yeah, I suppose that I could. Do you think that I should?”

The red kwami nodded resolutely. “Why d you think I suggested it. You’re partners, and should make sure each other person is okay, even outside fights with Hawkmoth.”

Marinette nodded in agreement. That made sense. “Okay, then. Tikki, Spots On!”

* * *

 

Ladybug was no longer surprised that she had seen Cat Noir out and about. She was certain at least half of Paris had at this point. He was inexplicably racing around the rooftops of Paris, in no particularly distinct path and with no apparent destination.

Finally, after first figuring out where he was, and following him until she was able t get within shouting distance, Ladybug called out to her leather clad companion. “Cat Noir!”

Fortunately, he heard, because she had stopped for the shut and did not fancy catching up yet again.

He turned around and came back over the rooftops he had just crossed to be next to her. He smirked. “Not that I would ever complain about seeing you, m’lady, but what are you doing here?”

“I saw you running like a maniac on the rooftops of Paris as a civilian, and wondered what’s up.”

This caused Cat to raise his eyebrows bemusedly. “Saw me running in your secret identity? Now I have a better clue as to who you are.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Think whatever you want, Cat. But with how hectic you were running all over Paris, how could I not?” This deflated him a bit. Ladybug offered him a kind, friendly smile. “So, what’s up?”

Cat Noir took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’m sure you’ve noticed the lack of akumas lately.”

Ladybug nodded. “Definitely.”

“So I hadn’t seen you for a week.”

“How tragic.” She rolled her eyes to go along with the comment.

“And I wanted to see you.” With this he regained his usual confidence.

Ladybug sighed. “While I have no doubt of the validity of that, Cat, I think we both no you had no assurance of me coming to see you by being a maniac. So, what’s really bothering you?”

The smile fell of his lips, and his ears drooped. Which made him look so pitiful. Not that Ladybug would ever tell her partner, but his smile conveyed a confidence that really suited him.

“Back to the akumas…” Cat continued. “The reason they haven’t been around is… Hawkmoth lost his miraculous.”

This took a second for Ladybug to really register. Once she did, she smiled broadly. “Really?”

Cat Noir looked troubled. “You’re glad that this happened?”

She nodded. “Of course! If Hawkmoth is gone, then he’s defeated! But… how do you know this?”

This made her partner look… how could she put it? Really sad and lonely. Which was absolutely not like him. “Because I was the one that took the butterfly miraculous away from my father.”

Ladybug deflated. No wonder he was so upset. If it was her father… she couldn’t even imagine how terrible it must be. She put her hand on Cat’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

“I’ve been trying to figure out what to do for the past week, just being restless with pent-up energy… I just needed to get it out. And I still don’t know what to do.” Then the superhero went silent.

Ladybug pulled him into a hug. “Cat… don’t be afraid to talk to me about it. I’m your partner. I care for you, even if it hasn’t always been the same way you’ve cared for me. But I’ll always be there for you.” She pulled back to look at him from arm’s length away. “If you need to talk to me, I can wait here for you every day after sunset. Okay?”

Cat Noir nodded. “Okay.”

They went back into a hug. “We’re going to be alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^w^ Tikki totally ships LadyNoir ^w^


	4. “I am Going to Crush You”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lady Noir fluff.

Marinette yawned. She knew she had promised Cat Noir that she could meet him at night, but that was before she had a busy day with some sort of ceremony the Collége did to honor Ladybug, which Marinette’s class, and specifically her, the class president, was in charge of. Talk about exhausting and difficult.

She yawned again, and her parents must have noticed. “Marinette,” her mom said. “Maybe you should go to bed early tonight.”

Her dad nodded in agreement. “You’ve had a busy day. All that work to prepare for Ladybug to some to your school… only to miss seeing the heroine herself.”

If only they’d known she was Ladybug. But they didn’t, and that was part of the reason her life was so crazy.

“I think I can agree with you on that,” Marinette told her parents. She got up and started up to her room. “Don’t expect to hear another peep out of me tonight.”

Marinette shut the door to her room, and flopped face first onto her bed. “Tikki,” she groaned, voice muffled against her covers. “Do I have to go see Cat Noir?”

“You said you would. You wouldn’t want to break your promise, now, would you?” Tikki advised.

Marinette pushed herself up onto her elbows. “I guess you’re right. Spots on.”

* * *

 

Upon arriving at the designated rooftop, Ladybug saw no sign of Cat Noir. So she didn’t fight her yawn.

“Tired of me already, m’lady? You only just got here.” Cat Noir came out of the shadows, were he had been concealed.

Ladybug sighed. “No… just a hectic day. Wore me out.”

That made Cat at least act a little less offended. Emphasis on little. “I concur. My school had some sort of special event going on, with my class in charge. I just feel sorry for the class president. She had ten times the amount of stuff to do. Probably crashed once she got home.”

“So what do you want to talk about, Cat Noir?”

He seemed to consider this question for a moment. “Hmm… let’s play a game.”

Ladybug gave him a deadpan look. “A game?”

“What?”

She took a deep breath out. “Sorry if I’m a little irritated that I came out to talk to you if you need it even though I’m worn to the bone only for you to want to play a game.”

Cat Noir shrugged. “We’ll keep it short. I promise.” Ladybug must’ve looked skeptical, because he amended, “Cat’s honor.”

Too tired to keep standing, Ladybug sat down with her feet dangling over the edge of the roof. Her partner in good joined her. “So what game are we going to play, Cat?”

He smirked. “Let’s see who knows the other person better.”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. “And how would that work?”

“Well, we’ll take turns choosing an item about them, like their favorite meal or something. The person who chooses goes first, then the other person guesses theirs. We keep going until one of us loses.” The feline superhero crossed his arms confidently. “Ladybugs first.”

She sighed. “Uh… favorite color.” Cat Noir gestured for her to continue. “Yours is red.”

This definitely perplexed the cat. “We should also say why.”

Ladybug considered this. “Ladybugs are red. You’re obsessed with me, Ladybug, So your favorite color is red.”

Judging by his bashful reaction, she had gotten it right. After a moment of recovery, Cat started narrating his thought process aloud before finally making his guess. “As much as I wish you liked me, you do not. But you do not. You like red, but your personality doesn’t seem that bold. You’re nicer, softer, more of a pastel… Pink.”

He had gotten it spot on. Spot on.

This was going to be a challenge.

“Ready for round two, Cat? Because I am going to crush you.”

* * *

 

Ladybug woke up with a start, realizing she had dozen off and was leaning against Cat Noir’s shoulder.

“Finally awake, m’lady? It’s your turn to start, I believe.”

Ladybug sighed and shook her head. “Sorry. This was fun, but we both need to go back home. I promise we’ll pick up right where we left off tomorrow night.”

Cat held out his hand. “Fine. One last thing before you go off.”

“Go.”

He smiled. “Tell me what the next round is so I can think about it.”

Ladybug bug bit her lip, thinking. “Favorite animal.” Then she zipped off into the night.

When she got home, she instantly transformed back, and Marinette had never fallen asleep so quickly.


	5. “I Understand, Sir”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkmoth wasn't just going to sit idly by once his miraculous was taken...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The day after the first two chapters take place. This chapter progresses throughout the week in between the second and third chapters.

“Nooroo, Dark wings, rise!” Gabriel said upon entering his chamber for Hawkmoth.

Nothing happened.

“Dark wings rise?” he tried again, cautiously.

Again, nothing.

“Nooroo?”

The butterfly kwami was nowhere to be seen. Now that he had time to consider it, he hadn’t seen Nooroo since he foolishly took off his miraculous in a fit of passion yesterday.

So he was no longer Hawkmoth. This was an unforeseen development.

Gabriel would have to figure out what his next card would be.

* * *

 

*Later that day*

“Nathalie, we need to locate the guardian of the miraculouses,” Gabriel informed his secretary immediately upon entering the office she worked in.

She looked up, continuing to type whatever she was working on. “But we were unable to find anyone by the name ‘Wang Fu’ after learning that was his true identity from Backwarder.”

“Then we’ll do more work. I doubt he goes by anything besides a Chinese name. We need to find him.”

Nathalie stopped typing. “Why are we only doing this now, and not then?” she asked, frowning.

Gabriel looked at his assistant. “Because now my miraculous is missing.”

“...And it was probably returned to the guardian of the miraculouses,” the secretary finished. “I understand, sir. I’ll start on it immediately.”

* * *

 

*The next day*

Gabriel was (unsuccessfully) trying to come up with a new design when there was a brief knock on the door. Nathalie came in.

“Sir, we have narrowed down the chinese residents in Paris down to a few likely men that are peculiarly old. How should we proceed?”

Gabriel sighed and leaned back in his chair. “We’ll discreetly observe them, and see if we can somehow catch onto who the miraculous guardian is.”

Nathalie nodded, making a note on the tablet she had with her, then looked up. “One more thing, sir… more personal. Still relevant to this topic. If I may, of course.”

He nodded his consent. “Go on.”

The secretary took a deep breath. “As far as I have been able to tell, though neither of us knows for certain when it was exchanged for that other brooch, the only time it could have been taken was when you took it off two days ago. The only person in that room was Adrien.” She hesitated before continuing. “It wasn’t necessarily him, but I see no way in which he wasn’t involved. At any rate, the only way in or out of the room would have required extraordinary physical prowess. There is some connection to Ladybug or Cat Noir.”

Gabriel nodded. “I had suspicions as to Cat Noir’s identity for months now. After Simon Says, I noticed that Adrien had a ring that he did not receive from me, nor did he say where he got it.”

Nathalie nodded. “Shall I keep track of his activities?”

Gabriel nodded.

* * *

 

*Five days later*

“Still no progress on finding Wang Fu, sir.”

“And Adrien?”

“His activities have been largely ordinary. When questioned, his teachers at school and for Chinese noted he has seemed distracted. His fencing instructor remarked prowess. This is all since the miraculous was taken.”

“Not ideal, but sufficient. Very well. Thank you, Nathalie.”

* * *

 

*The next day*

“We need Mayura.”

Nathalie looked up. “Sir?”

Gabriel continued at his work. “That is, if you’re willing to take on the risks.”

“I am, but…” she trailed off. “Last time, you berated me for using it. Why ask for it this time?”

“We won’t get any further confirmation of Cat Noir’s identity. Nothing is gained by biding our time.”

The secretary nodded. “Alright… but maybe we should just wait until tomorrow. Solidify our plan?”

Gabriel nodded.

Tomorrow, the superhero would finally lose his miraculous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foreshadowing...


	6. “I am Mayura”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to a head.

Adrien flopped onto his bed. He was confused, and upset, and just wished he could go back to before he found Hawkmoth’s miraculous. It might sound strange, to want an akuma every other day, and to reverse his closer relationship to Ladybug, but at least then he hadn’t had his world upside down. At least then he didn’t have an enemy for a father.

Sure, talking to Ladybug helped… but not enough.

He closed his eyes, not noticing as a feather drifted down, dissolving into the scarf he was clutching, the only redemption he saw for his father, as caring in his last birthday.

That is, he noticed nothing until he heard a voice inside his head.

“Hello, Adrien.”

His eyes shot open. There was a peacock mask in front of his face. He recognized it as the same one that appeared on Hawkmoth on Heroes’ Day.

“I am Mayura. You’re conflicted, caught between a love of your father and a sense of rightness. Troubling, especially for Cat Noir.”

This caused him to pause. That made sense. Of course there was the peacock miraculous still out there. How had he forgotten it? But the more troubling part was that Mayura knew his identity. So, probably, did his father. Or rather, Hawkmoth.

“Curiosity killed the cat, and that’s how you felt. But let all your confusion manifest to guide you.”

Suddenly, a cat made of dark matter, eerily similar to the moth on Heroes’ Day, appeared. Maybe it was supposed to be a guide, but for once, Adrien felt ominous. He finally understood why black cats might be considered bad luck.

Well, Adrien thought. It’s not as though I have anything to lose. Might as well fight it as Cat Noir. “Plagg. Claws Out.”

He wasted no time on his transformation sequence, just instantly becoming the superhero. Taking his baton, he ran over to the dark entity, and brought it down on his head. The cat immediately snarled and batted at him aggressively, then backed down timidly. It seemed...confused. Well, considering its origin, that was only logical.

Cat Noir stopped. It didn’t seem as though it particularly wanted to fight against him. He looked around, considering what, exactly, he should do. Then he spotted the scarf that the feather had infected.

There was one thing he was really good at.

And that was destroying things.

“Cataclysm!” He shouted. Then he dove for the scarf. It disintegrated, and the dark creature disappeared.

Without hesitation, he left through his window into the sunset of the streets of Paris. Considering the time, if he was lucky, Ladybug would be there.

* * *

 

He was lucky.

He ran up to Ladybug and grabbed her wrist. “Come on!”

Ladybug easily kept up, but was unsurprisingly a bit startled. “Cat Noir, what’s wrong?”

“Mayura!” was all he offered for explanation. “We need to get to Master Fu’s!”

“Wait! You know where Master Fu’s is?”

“What do you think I did with Hawkmoth’s miraculous?”

She didn’t argue, and they quickly arrived at Master Fu’s. Which was good. Cat Noir was on a time limit with his miraculous.


	7. “Leave Your Miraculous”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something we've all been waiting for...

Upon coming into Master Fu’s house, Cat Noir wasted no time in explaining the situation.

As he finished, his miraculous beeped the last time. One minute left.

“Can I leave the room?” Cat Noir asked Fu. “I mean… until the enemy is completely defeated, it’s not safe to reveal our identities, right?”

To Ladybug and Cat Noir’s mutual surprise, Master Fu shook his head. “No. As you said, Mayura knows your true identity. There is no advantage to be gained by hiding your identity anymore.”

The heroes of Paris stayed silent, soaking this in. “R-really?” Ladybug asked.

Master Fu nodded. “You can protect him against Mayura is you know his identity. Safety is the most important thing right now.”

Then Cat Noir’s miraculous ran out.

It was so sudden, Ladybug didn’t even think to look away. It just happened. She saw her partner bathe in white light before Adrien Agreste appeared in his place.

Adrien Agreste.

Cat Noir was Adrien Agreste.

Ladybug’s eyes widened and she felt her face heat up as she looked at him.

“Adrien…” she breathed. This was unreal.

He smiled shyly, in that way she thought was absolutely angelic. “Hey.”

She shook her head. Now that she had a little bit of time to recover from being so starstruck at seeing Adrien, the situation remarked her as funny. All that time she spent trying to muster the confidence to confess to Adrien, and he was professing his love to her on a nearly daily basis.

If it had progressed much further, to the point where Ladybug actually laughed, it could have gotten awkward very quickly. 

Luckily, Master Fu interrupted them. “Adrien, you need to leave your miraculous here.”

“NO!”

This was, surprisingly, a small black kwami that Ladybug assumed belonged to Cat Noir. Adrien turned towards it with a funny look. “I thought you would’ve been overjoyed to leave me, with how much you complain, Plagg.”

The floating cat shrugged. “What can I say? The guardian rations the cheese very tightly.”

Adrien rolled his eyes.

“D…does Adrien need to give up his miraculous? And why?” Ladybug asked. She had just found out that she liked Cat Noir’s civilian identity, and didn’t want to lose her partner so soon. Honestly, the biggest reason she was against a relationship with Cat Noir was because they had only known each other as superheroes, when they in fact, had… not.

Master Fu sighed. “He must. It would not do to have Hawkmoth or Mayura take his miraculous.”

Ladybug inhaled sharply. “I should’ve realized… Can he still get it back to help me if there’s a confrontation with Mayura? The way I do with Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee?”

Master Fu considered this. “Certainly. Just be careful not to be followed here or there.”

Adrien nodded. “Wait… is it safe for me to return home?”


	8. “Thanks for Having Me”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This just wraps everything up. It's mostly fluff.

“Wait… is it safe for me to return home?”

The answer, they all agreed on, was no. It was not.

But still, Ladybug marveled that she had suggested she drop him off at her “friend’s house.” By which she had actually meant her own. It was reasonable, as she had often claimed that Ladybug and Marinettte were good friends, to explain some things that were difficult otherwise.

Ladybug took Adrien as far as the front of the bakery. Once there, she set him down.

“Oh, we’re at Marinette’s?”’

She irrationally freaked out about why he knew that until she remembered he had been to her house as Adrien to practice for the gaming tournament and had on several occasions come as Cat Noir. And of course, he had visited the bakery to have the macaroons.

She nodded. “It’s close to your school, and I figure that it’s best for you to go tomorrow. Your father can’t exactly file a missing person report if you go, can he?”

“Umm…” Adrien fidgeted. “What should I say when I get there?”

I’m so stupid, Ladybug thought. “I didn’t think of that… Uh, I’ll let Marinette know that you need a place to stay tonight, and she can ask her parents if it’s okay to stay. They’re pretty nice, so it probably is, but wait until you get a text from her. Otherwise, she can let me know, so I can figure out somewhere else for you.”

Adrien nodded. “But you’re leaving me on my own to explain why to all of them?”

She shrugged. “You’re a smooth talker, Cat. I’m sure you can handle them.”

She zipped up to her balcony. “Spots off.”   
She didn’t even wait for Tikki to appear before she ran down to the kitchen. Her parents were understandably startled when Marinette rushed in. “Mom, Dad!”

“What is it, Marinette?” her mom asked.

“Adrien texted me. Apparently, he had a fight with his dad, then left afterwards, and needs somewhere he can spend the night. He asked if it could be here. Are you okay if he does?”

“Did he ask Nino first?” her mom asked.

Marinette shrugged as if she didn’t know. But she knew for a fact that he had not… but it wasn’t exactly like she could explain the entire situation now, could she?

Her dad chuckled. “Probably likes the pastries here so much he didn’t want to go anywhere else.”

“Tom!” Marinette’s mom exclaimed as if offended, then joined in his laughter.

“I’m kidding… but of course it’s okay if your friend comes here.”

Her parents continued laughing, and Marinette couldn’t keep a smile off her face as she shot off a text to Adrien.

Marinette: You can get up here now, you impatient cat.

She pressed send without thinking about it. Then she read the message again, and realized her mistake. That was something Ladybug might reasonably say, yes, but not Marinette.

She hadn’t realized how quick it was to walk up the stairs to her house until she heard the doorbell ring. “I’ll get it!” she volunteered.

The text… she could play it off. Yeah… Ladybug had to explain the situation for her. Yeah, that worked.

She opened the door and saw Adrien standing there.

“Hey,” he said shrugging shyly.

Marinette smiled. “Come on in,” she said, gesturing for him to do so.

They came into the kitchen. Adrien told Marinette’s parents, “Thanks for having me.”

“Of course! Marinette explained that you needed a place to stay after a fight with your father. We’re happy to help!” Marinette’s mom told him. Then she added on, “Though I do hope you plan on going home tomorrow.”

Adrien shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Marinette intruded the conversation. “Hey mom. Adrien didn’t bring anything with him, so can we go up to my room so I can help him with his homework?”

“Sure. Do you two want snacks?”

At the word snacks, Adrien’s face lit up, but before he said anything, Marinette declined, and practically pulled the heartbroken boy up into her room.

Up there, he pouted. “Why didn’t you let your parents bring us snacks?” he asked.

Marinette rolled her eyes, and mentally chided herself. That was entirely too Ladybug an action. She would have to make sure not to do anything that would give her away too obviously. But simply knowing she was around Cat Noir made her want to act like Ladybug. “So we couldn’t be interrupted, you dumb cat.”

So much for not acting like Ladybug.

Adrien blinked. “How do you… Wait. No. Why are you calling me a cat?”

Her response was probably a little too quick, but Marinette wanted to make sure she got it right. “Ladybug told me everything. Do you think I would’ve just agreed to letting Cat Noir spend the night at my house without knowing why? Granted, she didn’t say that you were someone I knew…” And then she realized that was another stupid lie, that contradicted her text. Hopefully his obliviousness was enough to make him not realize that.

“And your parents?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Technically, I didn’t lie to them.”   
He smirked. If she didn’t already know his identity, Marinette felt she might’ve guessed with that expression. “But you didn’t tell the whole truth either,” he pointed out.

Marinette shrugged. “Do you want all of Paris to know that you’re Cat Noir? Because, if so, I can call Alya right now.”

Adrien quickly pulled up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine.”

Marinette laughed. “I wouldn’t actually do that. Don’t worry Adrien. I’m on your side.”

They both sat there smiling for a moment. It was Adrien who spoke next. “If that’s the case, can we take up your parents on their offer of snacks?”

They both burst into laughter. No, their situation wasn’t ideal. But it was far from impossible. They were going to survive just fine.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will continue. I'm stopping here mostly because I need to figure out what exactly will happen next. So if you're interested, keep an eye out for the next part in the story. I will connect this to the next work. Thanks, I hope you enjoyed it!


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